Locking device for clothes hangers



Jan. 13,1959

lH. w.MccRoNE LOCKING DEVICE FOR CLOTHES HANGERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed oct. 25, 1955 H. W. MCCRONE LOCKING DEVICE FOR CLOTHES HANGERS l Jan. 13, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 25, 1955 United States Patent O i z,s6s,39o

LOCKING DEVICE FoR `CLOTHES HANGERS Harold W. McCrone, Halethorpe, Md., assignor to Yanhlle Engineering Company, Inc., Baltimore County, t

Application October 25, 1955, Serial No. 542,538

3 claims. Y (ci. al1- 124) This invention relates to an improved garment truck v of the kind used in the `transport of garments from one place to another, for instance in moving clothing from factory to sales room. `In some instances the truck having its rack loaded with garments supported on hangers, is trundled over a rough street surface thus causing hangers to be jostled from the rack with resulting damage to the garments supported thereon.

`It is an object of the present `invention to provideV an attachment for a rack whereby accidental displacement of garments placed thereonV is prevented.V p

v Another object is the provision of `a device whereby an entire `rack of hangers with garments thereon may be secured against removal by manipulation of an operable lever.

Other objects and advantages `will present themselves as the description proceeds and will be particularly pointed out in theappended claims, it `being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the device, there being parts broken away and parts in section.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view, the section being taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of one end or" the device, there being parts broken away and parts in section.

Fig. 4 is a View in elevation of the parts of the device in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of a portion of the retaining structure of the device and,

Fig. 6 is a sectional View, drawn to an enlarged scale, the section lbeing taken on line 6--6 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing by characters of reference the numeral 10 (Fig. l) refers to a base, which may or may not be mounted on casters (not shown).

A frame 11 comprising inverted U shaped end memlbers connected by a centrally positioned, longitudinally extending rail 12 is mounted on the base 10 by securing the legs 13 of each inverted U member to opposite ends of the base 111.

Since the structure at each end of the base 10 is identical, it is thought a detailed description of one Will sufce for an understanding of the device. A cross brace 14 is secured between the opposite legs 13 of each U* shaped end member, near the top thereof. The brace 14 has pivotally mounted for vertical swinging movement thereon, on a headed pivot pin 15, an operating lever 16. One end of the lever is provided with a linger piece 17, and the opposite end of the lever beyond its fulcrum at 15 is pivotally connected at 18 to a bar 19. The bar 19 is a part of a rigidly movable structure 2 0 which serves as the retaining device for preventing accldental removal of articles located on the rail 12.

The structure 20 consists of a hanger retaining bar 21 of any desired cross section, preferably, as in the present showing, an angle bar.

'2,868,390 Patented Jan. 13, 1959 i. ice

Parallel rods 22 are welded to opposite legs 21, of the angle 21 and extend downwardly straddling the rail 12 then attached to the opposite `ends of bar 19 as shown. The retaining bar 21 will thus-be guided by the rail `12 in its movement to hanger releasing position as will later appear in this description.

tection of garments placed thereon.

a panel or ap 27 formed in the front wall of the cover.-

The bars 22 are provided with yoffset portions 23 for a purpose to presently appear.

With the structure shown in the drawing, and so far described in the specication, the retaining bar 21 may be moved from a retaining position shown in full lines in Fig. 2 to the dottedV line position in the same ligure to permit removal of articles placed on the rail 12. This releasing operation is accomplished by manipulation o 4 the levers 16 at both ends of the iframe.

The lever 16 is mounted on the bar 14 at 15 not only for vertical swinging motion but is also permitted a slight lateral motion by reason of a spring 24 interposed between the ybar 14 and the head of the pin 15.` A latch or stop 25 secured to the bar 14 underlies the lever 16 near the handle end of the lever and, in the position shown in Fig. 3, prevents vertical swinging movement of the lever 16 to move the bar 21 torelease position. When movement of the lever 16 is` desired the lever is forced laterally against the tension ofthe spring 24 by manual pressure to permit the handle end of the lever to pass the latch 25. The bar 21 and associated parts may then be swung about pivot 15 to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

A ilexible cover 26 is hung over the frame for pro- The cover 2,6 has The panel is releasably attached at its side edges by zippers 28 to the main body of the cover. Access to the rack is had by release of the zippers, then by folding the panel over the back of the cover and frame, this provides an opening in the cover through which to project the oifset portions 23 of the rods 22 together with the bar 21.

With this construction the locking device may be manipulated and garments removed without removal of the entire cover.

A stop 29 is secured to the bar 12 near opposite ends thereof to indicate the extent of the retaining bar 21, thus notifying an operator that the limit has Ibeen reached for hanging garments on the rail whereby they may be secured against displacement by the retaining bar.

The position of hangers H for support of garments is indicated by dotted lines in Figs. l and 2.

It will be observed by inspection of the dotted line position of the retaining element 20 in Fig. 2 that the operating lever 16 is so mounted for pivotal movement so as not only to raise the bar 2l, but also due to contact of the bars 22 with the opposite sides of rail 12, which here acts as a fulcrum, to produce a lateral disalignment of the bar 21 relative to rail 12 toward the rear of cover 26. ln this way the retaining bar 21 is moved to a position out of the vertical and lateral path of removal of the hangers, thereby facilitating the operation.

Having thus described the invention-what is claimed 1. In a device of the character described, a frame including a base, an inverted transverse lll-shaped upright having legs carried lby each end of the base, a garment hanger supporting rail extending longitudinally between the centers of the bights of the uprights, a cross brace extending between the opposite legs of each upright adjacent the bight thereof, a headed pivot carried by each cross brace transversely oifset from said rail, a lever carried by each pivot terminating .at one end in vertical alignment with a bar pivoted on said one end of said lever, an upwardly extending support rod secured at one end to each end of said bar, a longitudinally extending angle iron hanger retaining bar having legs, one end of each leg being secured to the other end of each support rod, saidghanger retaining bar extending substantially the length ofi said railt and a finger hold at the other end of said lever for swinging said lever to raise and swing said retaining bar from said rail.

2. In a device of the character described, a iframe including a base, an inverted transverse U-shaped upright having, legsl carried lby each end of the base, a garment hanger supporting rail extending longitudinally between the centers of the lbights of the uprights, a cross brace extending between the opposite legs of each upright adjacent the bight thereof, a headed pivot carried by each cross` brace transversely offset from said rail, a lever carriedby each pivot terminating at one end in Vertical alignment with a bar ppivoted` on said one end of said lever, an upwardly extending support rod secured at one end to each end of said bar, a longitudinally extending angleiron hanger retaining bar having legs, one end of each leg being securedvto the other end of each support rod, said hanger retaining -bar extending substantially the length of said rail, a finger hold at the other end of said lever for swinging said lever to raise and swing said retaining bar from said rail, a spring surrounding said headed pivot biasing said lever towards said cross brace, and a. stop on each ofsaid cross braces limiting swinging movement of each lever,swinging of said lever against the bias of said spring releasing said lever from said stop.

3. In a device of the character described, a frame including a lbase, an inverted transverse U-shaped upright having legs carriedby each end of the base, a garment hanger supporting rail extending longitudinally between the centers of the bights of the uprights, a cross brace extending between the opposite legs of each upright adjacent the bight thereof, a headed pivot carried by each cross brace transversely oiset from sai'd rail', a lever carried by each pivot terminating at one end in vertical alignment with a -bar pivoted on said one end of said lever, an upwardly extending support rod secured at one end to each end of said bar, a longitudinally extending angle iron hanger retaining bar having legs, one end of each leg being; secured to the other end of each support rod, said hanger retaining @bar extending substan-k tially the length of said? rail, av nger hold at the other end 01E said lever-forI swinging saidlever to raise and swing said retaining bar from said rail, a spring surrounding said headed pivot biasing siad lever towards said cross brace, a stop on each said cross brace limiting swinging movement of each lever, swinging' of' a-fsaid lever against the bias of said spring releasing said lever from said stop, each of said support rods being oiset inwardly, a ilexible plastic cover for Asaid frame, saidofset rods and hanger retaining bar being adapted to project through an opening formed by openingand folding back the zippered exible plastic cover for saidframe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 744,819 Thomas Nov. 24, 1903- 1,695,517 Waldbauer Dec. 18, 1928 1,728,919 Batts Sept. 24, 1929 1,828,535 KassV Oct. 20, 1931 2,068,451 Elmore Ian. 19, 1937 2,256,188 Berren Sept. 16, 1941 2,276,569 Fried Mar. 17, 1942' 2,705,180 Enrich Mar. 29, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 176,150 Austria Sept. 25, 1953 

